Going to spend $80,000 on rent while your kid is at university? Maybe just buy a condo, some parents decide

Here in Vancouver, we’ve all heard about international parents buying property for their children while said children go to university locally. So we know that’s a thing. But I heard more than one story over the past few years about Canadian parents doing the same. In fact, one friend of a friend from Alberta bought three condos at UBC as a package deal, one for her son, one to rent, and one to use as a family drop-in place, as well as a condo in Halifax for another child at university there.

As it turns out, a small but steady stream of parents are making that same kind of decision. My story here in the Globe has two of them talking about the pros and cons of buying. (Says one father: It makes sense to buy at SFU, but not UBC, where the prices are so much higher.)